Tim Cahill believes Crystal Palace were better off without frontman Christian Benteke at the weekend.

After praising the best attacking performance for some time in the draw with Bournemouth last week, Eagles manager Roy Hodgson stuck with Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend up front for the big derby with Brighton on Saturday.

And it paid dividends with Zaha scoring twice in a 3-2 victory over their bitter rivals.

Former Everton man Cahill was a guest on Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday show and said Zaha's winning goal - his first with his head in the Premier League - probably would not have happened had Benteke been on the pitch.